Markit's statement alongside the data said: "The Eurozone economy
regained some momentum at the end of the first quarter, expanding
at the fastest rate since December."

Here's what Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist had to
say:

“The eurozone saw renewed signs of life at the start of spring.
The March PMI showed a welcome end to the worrying slowdown trend
seen in the first two months of the year, putting the region on
course for a 0.3% expansion of GDP in the first quarter.

Here are the headline eurozone figures:

Services PMI: 54, up from 53.3 and a
three-month high.

Manufacturing PMI: 51.4, up from 51.2 in
February and a two-month high.

Composite PMI: 53.7, a big beat, and up
from 53 in February.

Alongside the headline eurozone figures, the two biggest
economies in the single currency, Germany and France got breakout
readings. Here's the breakdown for France and Germany:

German Manufacturing: 50.4, down from 50.5 in
February.

German Services: 55.5, up from 55.3, and a
three month high.

German Composite: 54.1, the same reading as
February.

Manufacturing output: 50.8, up from 49.5
in February, and a three month high.

Services activity: 51.2, up from 49.2 in
February, to a five month high.

Composite output: 51.1, another five
month high and up from 49.3 in February.

The purchasing managers index (PMI) figures from Markit are
given as a number between 0 and 100. Anything above 50 signals
growth, while anything below means a contraction in activity — so
the higher the better.